A one day awareness programme on ‘Natural Farming and Soil Health’ was organized by ICAR- KVK, Ri-Bhoi, today to mark World Soil Day with the aim to create awareness and enhance knowledge among farmers on soil health, benefits of soil health cards, management of soil acidity and degradation for sustainability of soil.
The programme was attended by 50 farmers of Ri-Bhoi district; chief guest AK Singha, Director, ICAR-ATARI, Umiam; Mokidul Islam, Principal Scientist and Head, SMS; with other staff.
Singha talked about the importance of Soil Health Day and its campaign with the theme ‘Soils: Where Food Begins’. He urged the farmers about the importance of maintaining a healthy soil and the different ways by creating awareness for the well being of the whole ecosystem.
Islam welcomed the farmers and spread the message of natural farming to maintain soil health and productivity. He briefed the farmers about the value of healthy soil and stressed on sustainable management through different ways, including natural nutrient sources to enhance soil fertility and productivity.
Meghna Sarma, SMS, Agronomy spoke on natural farming or ecological farming, which integrates crops, trees and livestock and is also considered as a cost effective farming technique that improves and maintains soil health and ecosystems.
During the programme high yield varieties of pea seeds were distributed to the farmers for demonstration in rice fallows to promote double cropping. A farmer-scientist interaction was held wherein queries from farmers regarding agricultural problems were clarified by the SMSs of KVK, Ri-Bhoi. A quiz competition among the farmers was also held to know about the knowledge gained by the participating farmers.
